190 FARM MANAGEMENT 



manure. One objection to green manure is that where 

 the soil is most in need of organic matter, the least 

 quantity grows. The parts of the field that are richest 

 get the heaviest application, just the reverse of what 

 is desired. The same objection applies to farms as. a 

 whole. Farms that are seriously in need of organic 

 matter cannot grow much of a crop of green manure. 

 A manure spreader will apply farm manure evenly. 

 If desired, parts of the field may be given a heavier 

 application. 



There are conditions under which a catch crop can be 

 grown with very little extra cost. Such crops are most 

 commonly grown in orchards, or sown in corn or cotton 

 at the last cultivation. When this can be done, the extra 

 cost is little more than the seed, and a good profit is 

 usually returned. 



It is very doubtful economy to spend a year raising a 

 crop that is to be plowed under. Such a practice may pay 

 as compared with no treatment, if organic matter is badly 

 needed, but usually it pays better to pasture down the 

 green manure crop, or harvest and feed it and return the 

 manure. If pastured off in the field, all the roots and 

 considerable of the tops are left where they grew, and 

 40-50 per cent of the material that is eaten is returned 

 to the land. 



There are a few potato growers scattered about the 

 country, who follow a three-year rotation of potatoes, 

 oats, and clover. Sometimes rye, barley, or wheat re- 

 places the oats. The clover is allowed to fall back on 

 the land for green manure. The cost of this green manure 

 may be said to be the clover seed and use of the land, as 

 little extra labor is involved. So long as land is cheap, 

 this system may be followed. It usually makes the dry 



